Automatic feeder for elevators



Jan. 23,1923.

H. F. GORSUCH..

AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR ELEVATORS.

3 SHEETS-SHEE l.

F!LEDJUNE14,1922.

Smead/Coi Jan. 2, 1923.

. n H. F. GORSUCH. V

4AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOR ELEVATORS.

FILED JUNE 14. 1922. s vSHEETS-Smau ortica'.

nowann r. consueti, or Garmin orne, assreivon 'ro uns Genion racitiwenns a nire. co., or cation, onro, n coaronarion or onto.

AUTOMATIC FEEDER FOB ELEVATQBS. 'l

Application filed .Tunev 14,

To all fr/tom it' may concern.'

Be it known that I, l-lowAnD F. Gonsnoia, a citizen of the UnitedStates,'residing at Galion, in the county of Crawford and State of Ohio,have invented certain new vand useful improvements in Automatic Feedersfor Filevators, of which the following isaspecification.

This invention relates to means for feeding material to elevators, andparticularly to means for feeding material to an endless elevator havingreceiving buckets,'this mechanism being particularly designed for usewith standard screening devices.

ln a certain type of standard screening mechanism, the material to bescreened is received in a pit into which the lower end of an upwardlyextending elevator frame extends,

this elevator frame carrying an endless elevator provided with buckets,the material be-l ing lifted from the pit by said buckets, cai'- riedupward on the frame, and then dis- "charged into a series 'of screeningdrums whereby the material put in condition for use. f

In mechanism of this kind, it is desirable to provide for an even feedof material to the buckets of the elevator so as to prevent the bucketsfrom becoming clogged or filled to overflowing at one time,'while atanother time the buckets will be running with very little inthem. i

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide means wherebygravel, broken stone, coal or like material may be gradually fed to theendless elevator. l

A still further object in this connection is to provide means wherebythe graduated feed may becontrolled to a considerable eX- tent.

Another object is to provide ina mechanisin of this kind a reciprocatingconveyor into which the material is discharged and which, by itsreciprocations, causes" the material to travel forward and `bedischarged into a spout and from thence to the elevator buckets, andprovide means for causing the reciprocation of said conveyor.

Y A still further object isto providemeaiis for supporting the conveyorframe within the pit by the use of standard rails which may also servelas the rails of a track so as to permit dumping c'arsto be run intoposition over the pitand discharged onto the reciprocating feedingelement or conveyor.

i922. serial no. 568,252.

. A further-object is to provide a construcl ygradually fed forward ontothe conveyor buckets.`

Uther'objects have to do ,with the details of construction landarrangement of parts whereby these functions heretofore referred to aresecured, V-

l'n the drawings, l have illustrated onlyso `much of the elevator systemas is necessary vfor an understanding of my invention, and `in thesedrawings g f Figure jlis a sectional view through a l material elevatingmechanism of well' known `construction andshowing myy materialdistributing mechanism appliedthereto;

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic section on the line 2 2 of Figure 1; y.

Figure 3 is an enlarged section onv the line 3&3 of Figure et;

Figurejll is an enlarged side elevation of the forward end of thedistributing mechanism;

f Figure 5 is a front end elevation ofthe dis-L tributing mechanism;

Figure 6 isa fragmentary top plan view of the constructionshown inFigure 4; 4

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates a pit or equivalent structurehaving a relatively narrowextension 11 whichextendsbeneath the railroadrails 12. The pit on each sideof lthe railroadrails may be covered in byplanks 13. Extending downward into the main'portion of the pit is anelevator frame, which isdesignat'ed generally 14, and this `particularconstruction requires no description, inasmuch as it forms no part of myinvention.

i This elevator frame carries at its lower end the sprocket wheels,rollers, or equivalent elements, 'designated 15, over which passes anendless element 16 having thereon ythe buckets 17. lt'is immaterial howvthis elevator 4l'is` driven, as this forms no part of my invention, butordinarily, it may be stated, the elevator is driven from a head shaftlmounted at the upper end of the frame and carrying a sprocket wheelanddriven by a'sprocketchain from ashaft 18- mounted upon theframe,having a sprocket wheel 1 9 ioo driven from the engine, and alsocarrying a sprocket wheel 20. Mounted upon the frame 14 is a shaft 2lcarrying a sprocket wheel 22, from whicha sprocket chain .23 passes tothe sprocket wheel whereby the shaft 21 is driven. This shaft 2]. isillustrated as mounted in sliding bearings 24 carried in guides 25attached to the frame 14, the sliding bearing being shifted in thisguide by means of the screw-threaded member 26 or in any other suitablemanner. Mounted upon the shaft 2l is the crank 27. Except for the shaft2l and the members 22 to 27, all the parts which' I have heretoforedescribed are standard equipment for this type ol elevator and furtherdescription is, therefore, believed to be unnecessary.y

Disposed within the pit l1 and extending 1 into the portion l0 thereofare sidewalls which are formed of the supporting angle irons 28 anddepending plates 29 which are riveted or otherwise connected to theangle irons. These two side walls are spaced from each other underOrdinar7 circumstances a distance of 91E, though it will be obvious thatthese may be spaced a greater distance if desired. Depending from theangle irons 28, riveted or otherwise attached thereto and thereforesupported from the side walls, are hangers 30 which support cast ironrollers 31, there being three sets of these hangers i villustrated andthree rollers. Resting upon the rollers and loosely embracing thedepending `plates 29 is. a conveyor` trough. This trough is composed ofa flat bottom member 32 and angle irons. 33 having up- -wardly extendingflanges constituting side walls to the trough, the horizontal flanges ofthe angle irons extending beneath the plate 32, and disposed above thisplate 32 is a transversely curved, concave bottom 34 which at its middlerests upon the plate 32 but at itssides is supported by filler blocks35. The margins of this plate extend beneath the depending plates 29,while the vertical tlanges of the angle irons 33 extend upward on eachside of the depending plates 29 This conveyor 35 is reciprocatable withreference to the depending plates 29 and rests upon the rollers 3l andis supported thereby for recnprocation. Preferably the hangers 30 areconnected by straps 36 to the angleirons 28 but any other suitablestrengthening means for the hangers 30 may be used.

The reciprocating trough is connected at one end, more or less adjacentits forward end, to an equalizer bar-37. The middle portion of thisequalizer bar is rectangular-in cross section where it extends beneaththe reciprocating'trough, but the extremities of the equalizer bar arer-educed and circular in diameter to form ytrunnions 38. This,equalizerbaris cmmecte'dl tothe. trough-:by

inattesa a U-shaped yoke 39 attached by bolts 40 to the bottom plate 32,and this yoke is attached to the equalizer bar by a king bolt 4l passingthrough the equalizer bar and through the yoke and carrying la nut '42;The heads of the bolts 40 and o1 the bolt 4l are countersunk, asillustrated, so that the inner surface of the concave bottom 34 issmooth. The ends of the equalizer bar are connected to the crank 27 bymeans of connecting rods 43. that a rotationof the shaft 2l will cause areciprocation of the ltrough-shaped conveyor. n

The conveyor frame is supported. from t will be obvious nowV therailroad rails l2 by means ot angle irons or angular clamps 44,oneinargin of each of said angle irons resting upon the base of thecorresponding rail l2 and clamping them. Downwardly extending plates 45y and specifically adjacent the pathk oct travelk of the elevatorbucket=l7, and the spout isl preferably pivotally mounted so that itsforward end maybe adjusted up or down and thus the inclination of thespout changed. To this end the spout is provided with two downwardlyextending flanges 49 formed by angleirons attached to the bottom of thespout and thespout is pivotally supported by an extension 5.0 extendingforward from the lower end of the forward hanger 30, this extension atits extremity being` formed to provide av bead 5l through 'which a pin52 passes, this pin also passing through the flanges 49. Thus the spoutis yoperatively supported from thel side walls.

The spout is held in its adjusted position by upwardly extendingsupporting straps 53 riveted to the side walls of the spout andextending upward through slots in the hori zontal flanges of theI angleirons 28. ,The upper end of each strap 53 has a plurality ofperforations 54 through which a'pin 55 may be passed to hold this spoutadjusted. s

The connecting rod 43 is adjustable upon vthe crank 27 so that the crankmay be in elect lengthened or shortened to thus change the stroke of thereciprocating trough constitut-ingthe conveyor yand the material iscaused tomove forward into the conveyor upon each backward stroke of thetrough or conveyor by means of a downwardly and vforwardly extending'wall ,56 (seeFigure l) .whichis disposed y.between the depending' plates29 and' held in place in any suitable manner, theloiver edge'ol thisWall 56 approximating the bottom ill/l but not touching the same andthis Wall being held from any longitudinal movement. Thus upon thebackward movement of the trough-shaped conveyor, the material in theconveyor will strike against this Wall 5c and thus the material `Will beforced for Ward relative to the bottom and discharged. out into thespout. The reciprocation ol'. the conveyor Will also cause a certainamount of material to be discharged into the spout and thus into thebuckets ot' the ele-- vater. The yamount of material which be dischargedmaybe varied byl changin.;` the stroke ot the crank 27. ln ordinariipractice this crank will be adjustable to. provide either an S or l0stroke. Any suitable means may be used tor .f'aryingrI the stroke olthis crank. The depending;y pla-tes 29 are `further braced. trommovement by braces 5'? which are riveted to the ton Ward plates l5 andto braces 58 on the frame la. Preferably ahopper 59'(see Fig. 2)

will be mounted to discharge int-o the space` between the dependingplates 29, the hopper Walls forming part of the side Walls or being`operatively connected 'thereto and preterf ably extending across thehopper will be a plurality of bars spaced trom each other to form agrate or screen.

The operation ot this mechanism will be obvious from what has gonebefore. The operation ot the elevator will cause the operation ol thecrank 27 and this Will cause the reciprocation or' the trough-shapedcon-' tace ont the conveyor and that when the false bottom or innerbottom 34;, which is termed et quarter-inch thick plate, becomes too Lmuch Worn and useless, it may be readily removed and a nevv plate put inplace, and furthermore that the angle irons 33 and the plate 32 are ofrelatively heavy material and are very rigidly connected to theequalizing` bar so as to resist the strains which are incident to theconstant reciprocation of the conveyor with its load.

The equalizer bar 37 is pivotally connected at its middle to the troughbottom 34: so that when the erector sets this plant up the screeningplant and feeder. do not have to come on an exact line in order to getthc side arms to lit and there Will be no more stress on one side thanonv the other When the device is Working. The spout 4&8 directs thematerial tothe buckets onl the elevator, and one of the purposes othinging this spout so that when a large stone falls' dovvnone ot thedbuckets -andcatches the under side ot the spout, the hinge will allowthe spout to shift and give su'liiciently to permit the stone to passand not bend the bucket out ot' shape.

l In the construction shown in Figure l, l have shown this mechanism asapplied to an ordinary gravel screening plant Wherey the gravel is drawnVto the hopper by horses and small slip Scrapers. -The bars 60 underthese circumstances actas a guard to prevent too large stones fromgetting in and clogging up the 'feeder or elevator. The railroad railsl2 are simply short rails put down in the pit forclainping the feederto.lt will be obvious, ot course, that this mechanism might be readilyutilized tor receiving gravel and the like from cars.v n Y rlhemechanism is relatively simple, has

been Jfound to be thoroughly effective in actual' practice and willnotlreadily get out ol" order.- Ot course, it will be understood thatmeans is provided'whereby the sprocket lWheel 2O may be operatively`connected to or disconnected 'from the shaft 18, this means being anordinary c lutchlso that it is not necessary to operatethey feeding'mechanism While the elevator is being operated.

l claim f l. A feeding mechanism of the `character described includingparallel,l downwardly extending side Walls held from movement, areciprocatabletrouglrshaped conveyor having side Walls extending upexterior to the first named side Walls, means for upporting` theconveyor y fory reciprocating movement,

rand means for reciprocating .the conveyor.

2. A feeding mechanism of the character 'described including parallel,downwardly extending Side Wallsheld from movement, a reclprocatabietroughshaped conveyor having side Walls extending up exterior to thelirst named side Walls, hangers depending from the iirst named sideWalls, and rollers carried by said hangers and upon which the bottom ofthe conveyor rests.`

3. A feeding mechanism of the character `described :'u'icluding4parallel, vertical side` Walls, a reciprocating trough-shaped conveyormounted belovvthe side Walls for.. re-v ciprocation relative thereto,means` for reciprocating the conveyor includingan equalizer bar attachedto the troughsshaped conveyor and extending laterally `on each sidebeyond it, acrank shaft having cranks, and connecting rods connectingthe cranks` to said equalizer bar. y

et; A mech nism of the character described inclu c f id side Wallsspaced ,trom each other, a trough-shaped conveyor disposed below thelower edges of the sidel Walls and having side Walls embracing the firstnamed side Walls, rollers operatively supported from the i'irst namedside .Walls and supporting the conveyor for reciprocating movement,power operated means 'for reciprocating the conveyor9 and a spoutoperatively supported from said side Walls at one end thereol-r andntowhich the forward end ot the reciprocating conveyor discharges7 rsaidspout'being angularly adjustable.

6. A conveyingv mechanism of thechanv acter described comprisingparallel side Walls,` a trough-shaped conveyor mounted below said sideWalls and inchiding` a transverse concave bottom plate having itsmargins extending beneath the side Walls and Vincluding angle ironsformed 'to provide-side Walls embracing the irst named side Walls;supporting means for the 'conveyor7 and means for reciprocating theconveyor. i

7. A vfeeding` mechanism oit the character described including sidewalls, a troughshaped conveyor mounted beloivithe side Walls andincluding a bottom plate?l angle ironsattached thereto and extendingupward exterior to the side Walls,'an inner bottom, transversely'concavehaving its margins extending beneath the side Walls7 filling piecesbetween the irstn-amed bottom and the innerbottomand power operatedmeans for reciprocating the conveyor.

8. A 'feeding mechanism 'el' the ciaracter 'described including `sidewalls, a troughshap'ed conveyor mounted below the side Walls and includa bottom plato, angle irons attached thereto and e iding up- Wardexterior to the side Walla an inne-r botn tom transversely concave havimargins extending beneath the side malls, i'illing pieces between thefirst bottom and the inner bottom, power operated means forreciprocating the conveyor including an equalizer bar extending beneaththel connimeer veyor, a yolre bolted to the rsty nam'edfplate andembracing the equalizer bar, and a boltI passing through the innerbottom plate and througl the yoke and equalizer bar, the head of saidbolt being countersunlr in the inner bottom.

9. A feeding. mechanism of the character described including parallel7vertical side walls, a reciprocatingconveyor coacting with the sideWalls tor `reciprocation 1- relative thereto, means for reciprocatingthe con-` veyor including an equalizer bar operatively pivoted at itsmiddle tothe middle of `the conveyor and extending laterally on eachside, connecting rods stvingingly connected to the ends of the equalizerbar, and power operated means for reciprocating the connecting rods.

10. rlhe combination with a main conveyor? of an auxiliary conveyordischarging ther into and including a reciprocatable conveying member, apower driven cranlr shaft mounted upon the trame of the main conveyorand extending approximately at. right angles to the longitudinal axisoli the Lauxiliary conveyor, an equalizer bar operatively pivoted to thebottom of the conveying member and projectinglaterally therefrom, andconnecting rods engaging the ends of the equalizer bar and said crankshaft.

1l. ln a structure of the character described, a pit7 an elevatoryextending into the pit at one end, rails extending transversely acrossthe pit, a frame disposed below the rails including side members1 angleirons g upon the Webs oit attached to the side lmeinbers and extendingun through saidr anglek irons whereby said ine including the sidemembers is supported from the rails, and a reciprocatable troughextending between the sidemembers and supported thereby. y

l2. ln a str cture of the characterde scribed, a pit, an elevatorextending into the pit at one end, railroad rails extending transverselyacross the pit, a conveyor discharging into'the elevator and disposedWithin the pit and comprising side` members and a trough-shaped memberassociated .with the side members and forming thebottomof the conveyor,means for supporting the troughshaped member for reciprocation relativeto the side membersy and means for supporting said side memberscomprising eyeebolts eX- tending divergent relation upward from tne sidemembers, and angle irons for each rail, through one iange oii'vvhich thecorrespondingeye-bolts pass `and the other flange rest-im;` upon thebase` of said rails.

l i testimony whereof I aiiii; my signature.

HGWARD F. GORSUCH.

the rails7 eye-bolts

